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Ashley’s. “What if something happened to her?”
    “Where did you go last night? What’s the name of the club?”
Trudy reached for her purse, began hunting her car keys.
    “It’s called The Barn Door,” Sandy’s voice was shaky. “It’s
in Smathers.”
    “Nebraska? You girls drove to Nebraska to go to a club? What
in the hell were you thinking?” Trudy let her fear turn into anger, all of it
directed at Sandy.
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wells, but it’s the closest place to us
that doesn’t check ID’s,” Sandy blurted out. “We were safe, I promise.”
    “Not safe enough. Where is Allison?” It was a moot question,
one that Trudy did not expect Sandy to answer. “You stay put, Sandy. I’m
calling the police, I’m sure they will want to speak with you.”
    “Yes, Ma’am,” Sandy felt her world crumble as she realized
what could have happened to Allison.
    “Ashley, if the cops get there before I do, let them in.
Tell them whatever they want to know. I’m on my way.”
    “Yes, Ma’am,” Ashley echoed, feeling the seriousness of the
situation for the first time.
     
    ~~~
     
    “Thank you for speaking with us, Mrs. Torrent. I promise
that we’ll do everything we can to find Shelby,” Jeri squeezed the other
woman’s hand, trying to reassure her.
    “Shelby’s a good girl, why did this happen?” Mrs. Torrent
clung to Jeri’s hand like a lifeline.
    “I don’t know, but I promise you that we’ll find out,” Jeri
eased her hand away, while maintaining eye contact with the distraught woman.
    “Thank you, thank you. I just don’t know what I’ll do
without my Shelby,” the woman cried, shoulders shaking as a new wave of sorrow
hit her.
    “Come on now, sweetie, let’s get you a nice cup of tea.” Guiding
the woman inside, Mrs. Torrent’s neighbor waved Jeri and Ethan away.
    “That was rough!” Ethan exclaimed when they were out of
earshot. “I hope we can keep your promise.”
    “We will,” Jeri told him, grateful to be away from the
overwhelming grief inside the Torrent home. “It’s too bad the men we already
interviewed have alibis. I really want to nail this bastard.”
    “How many more on the Iowa list?” Ethan asked, starting the
car.
    “Seven. We’ll be lucky to be back in Kansas before
midnight,” Jeri checked her watch. “It’s three-thirty now.”
    “We may as well interview them all while we’re here.”
    “Agreed. The next one lives about six miles from here. Turn
left.”
    “Why don’t you check in with Monique, see if they’ve turned
up anything?”
    “You read my mind,” Jeri smiled, trying to get the image of
Shelby Torrent out of her mind. She was only fifteen, but already a beauty. Her
bedroom was every girly-girl’s dream; a canopy bed with pink satin bedding, a
chandelier, dripping crystals, and more pillows than Jeri could count. In the
center of the pillow mountain rested a deep brown teddy bear, obviously
well-adored for years. It broke her heart to think of such an innocent child,
possibly in the hands of Anson’s watcher.
    “Take the next right,” she told Ethan as she dialed Monique.
“Then take the third left.”
    “Hi, Jeri,” Monique answered the call. “How was the meeting
with the mother?”
    “About like you’d expect,” Jeri told her. “Nothing concrete,
but we do believe that this is a kidnapping. Still not sure if it’s our guy, or
not. How are things going with you?”
    “So far, we’ve had no luck. The last three names on Anna’s
list were not at home, so we’ll swing back by later today. Otherwise, each man
we spoke to has an alibi.”
    “Same here, but we’re starting back on the list, now. Maybe
we’ll get lucky,” Jeri didn’t believe it, but they had to try.
    “At least we confirmed the iG old
accounts are the same for both transactions. Anna has something to go on
there.”
    “Yes, that’s a start,” Jeri sighed. “We’ll be late getting
back, don’t wait on us for dinner.”
    “Okay, keep in